Vuzix may not be the first name you think of when discussing consumer smartglasses, as the brand is best known for its work with businesses, but it does make them, and knows the market inside out.
It has produced commercial smart eyewear for more than a decade, and alongside Google with Glass, was one of the biggest names championing the technology right at the start.
Smartglasses continue to become more mainstream, and Vuzix is well-positioned to give us insight into the industry’s direction and what the future holds.
Android Police spoke to Vuzix’s vice president of business development, Matt Margolis, to find out more.
The beginning of the beginning
Glasses with screens are coming
“I think we’re definitely getting close,” Margolis told me when we discussed how more companies are taking an interest in smart glasses, particularly those with displays in the lenses, and when mainstream adoption may arrive.
“Is it a replacement for the phone? Probably not. Is it a replacement for a smartwatch? Maybe, in some cases,” he continued.
Vuzix specializes in smart eyewear with displays, making its own devices and supplying others with components.
Margolis gave an insider’s view on what’s happening in the industry.
If you look at the market, you’re seeing the non-display models adopted mostly due to price. The cost of some of the waveguides alone is $300, $400, or $500, but the whole price of the product has to be that low.
If [a manufacturer] spends $400 on the waveguide display, then it’s cost-prohibitive. You’ve got to get that waveguide down to sub-$100, then you can talk about a $399, $499 kind of consumer product.
Put like this, it sounds like a long way away, even considering the waveguide-equipped Even Realities G2, which costs $600.
However, things are moving very fast behind the scenes. Margolis continued:
It’s where the supply chain comes in, but it’s a little bit of a chicken-and-egg situation. Right now, you’re not seeing much, but it’s because of price, which I think will continue to come down as investments happen and scaling can occur.
Investments will help drive prices down
As technology advances
In September 2024, original design manufacturer (ODM) Quanta Computer invested $20 million in Vuzix, with the express purpose of assisting the company’s smartglasses projects.
Vuzix said it would use the investment to ramp up production of waveguides and co-develop new smartglasses and related tech.
Margolis explained more about the investment and what it means.
Quanta invested in us, and they build a lot of products. For them, it was a way to get vertically integrated, saying, ‘Okay, we partner with Vuzix, we help them scale their waveguides, and then we can then supply these to our customers to build into their products.’
The initial investment has started, and we’re definitely seeing rumblings inside companies looking for positions. I’d say when this gets going, it’s going to be 5-to-10 million units a year pretty quick. It’ll be like a smartwatch.
These investments and the burgeoning interest in smartglasses with displays are what will make the difference in the industry.
“I think we’re seeing the supply chain start to ramp up to get ready for the big push,” Margolis said, “and that means the prices can come down.”
This is only the start, and although interest is there, the stage is not entirely set.
Margolis said brands are still thinking about design, features, and even what type of display technology will turn out to be best.
There’s a little bit of a battle over what display technology makes sense. There’s Micro-LED, there’s LCoS, there are laser-based scanners. You have indoor and outdoor use, so brightness matters, as does some sort of transition lens.
Indoors is a different environment, and you have to factor in the people who need vision correction. It won’t be a one-size-fits-all. You’ll have different shapes, different colors, ones that come with a camera, and high-end ones that might be heavier, but can do more processing locally.
Cameras and the privacy conundrum
The solution will come, but not before the tech
Yes, a camera. No conversation about smart glasses would be complete without discussing privacy and the poor reputation Ray-Ban Meta has gained through some owners using them irresponsibly.
Margolis recognized the problem and said education and even government intervention may eventually help solve the issue.
Vuzix’s products are used in the enterprise where privacy is paramount, and it’s the companies that use them that dictate how and where data is shared, right down to geo-fencing camera-equipped products to avoid problems.
He recognizes the problem still needs to be solved for consumers.
Right now, I think the biggest challenge is the supply chain, pricing, components, and the chipset. These are the things slowing down industry adoption. But once the supply chain and all those things have been figured out, then we’re going to have to deal with the [privacy] problem.
Affordable display smartglasses are coming
And it won’t be long
Our conversation with Margolis helped illustrate how smartglasses are still a young tech product, facing the same problems all brand-new tech does.
It shows that although we’re seeing plenty of new products — from Alibaba’s Qwen to Snap’s Specs — these are still early models with designs, features, and pricing to match.
Things are changing fast, though, as Margolis explained:
Four or five years ago, in our ecosystem, we probably had one display partner. Over the past 18 months, we’re now up to 11, and they’re all wanting different display technologies.
We’re going to be sharing, hopefully soon, about a partner we’re working with again that wants to go after the large mass market. It tells me everybody’s readying the ship. There are definitely a lot of folks spending more and more money and time on advancing the technology, to be ready for mass adoption.
When does Margolis think this mass adoption will come?
It’s probably the end of 2027 and into 2028.
Considering we’re halfway through 2026, and Google and Samsung’s first non-display smartglasses are expected at the end of the year, this sounds highly plausible.
Furthermore, few companies influence the industry more than Apple, and recent rumors indicate its first smartglasses will launch at the end of 2027, adding more weight to Margolis’s prediction.
The world of smartglasses with an in-lens display is already an exciting wearable tech space, but it appears to be just getting started.
